


These monsters of heart

by ThatOnePlatypus



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 07:50:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOnePlatypus/pseuds/ThatOnePlatypus
Summary: “What sort of help?” Obito asks, before he can chicken out and decide to sink in the floor and never see the prince ever again.“Maa, I’m on a quest of sorts,” Kakashi admits. “The villagers from down south have been reporting sightings on a monster, around these parts. As have wanderers, and a few more villages from north-west from here. I’ve narrowed down my search to this place.”Ice sinks deeps in Obito’s veins, chilling him to the bone. A monster around here. What are the odds…In his mind, both Kamui and Datara remain silent.(or: Kakashi is on a quest to find a monster. Instead, he finds Obito.)





	These monsters of heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KiroSveta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiroSveta/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRO! You wonderful person you!  
> So, this was supposed to be a small canon AU drabble, short and sweet, for your brithday... but then, as things are wont to do, it grew into a fantasy AU. (It wanted to have chapters, and 20k words, but well. I was running short on time xD)  
> I hope your birthday is a wonderful one!  
> And I hope you enjoy this.

The first time he sees Hatake Kakashi, Obito walks into a tree.

In his defense, he rarely sees anyone at all in this part of Mountain’s Graveyard, let alone handsome men with hair the same shade as silver moonlight. There’s a village down south, a few miles away, but Obito doesn’t go near  _ them _ . Unpleasant people, really, the lot of them, and certainly as ugly outside as inside.

So, yes, Obito feels he’s justified in looking a bit too intently, and forgetting to look where he’s going.

Datara and Kamui disagree, but  _ they _ have absolutely no say in this. It’s Obito’s hormones, damn it, and his body. If he wants to walk face first into trees because he’s busy ogling a pretty face – and the backside attached to the person – then he’s free to do so!

_ Stupid _ , Kamui declares simply.

“You could have made me intangible,” Obito grumbles lowly to them. “So  _ you _ ’re the stupid one.”

Of course, because Kamui is nothing if not spiteful and petty, Obito feels himself go intangible a second later, and yelps as he ends up half-buried in the ground.

_ I hate you _ , Obito thinks with feeling towards Kamui, and gets a huffy feeling in answer.

Before they can get started on another argument, someone clears their throat. Obito blinks, and looks up to find the pretty man from before eyeing him with a rather bemused expression. Or, well, half of said expression, since he’s wearing a cloth mask that is hiding half of his face.

There’s a memory niggling at the back of Obito’s mind. Like he should know this man. But in the end, he can’t seem to recall from where, and instead gives the stranger a wary look.

“What?” He asks, crossing his arms defensively.

“Just wanted to know if you need help to get out from the ground,” the man says. He inclines his head, and his eyes crease as though he’s smiling. Obito immediately doesn’t like the expression. “You look a little stuck.”

“I,” Obito lies through his teeth, “am exactly where I want to be.”

“Oh?” The man says, and somehow manages to convey both disbelief in Obito’s words and in his mental capacities with a single sound and what little face is visible.

In any other situation, Obito might be impressed. As it is, he immediately bristles.

“Yes,” he snaps. “I’m communing with nature. Everyone knows you get better connection by being in contact with the earth.”

“In contact usually means with a hand to the ground,” the annoying person with the still pretty hair points out. “Not buried in it.”

“Did I ask?” Obito says, glaring. “I’m the one communing with nature, here, not you.”

“Maa, I suppose so,” the stranger says, and crouches to be more at eye-level with him. “You’re a nature mage, then?”

Obito tenses, eyes narrowing. Technically, he is. Sort of.

He’s also absolutely not going to say so to anyone, nor is he going to explain anything about his magical nature. No matter if the person asking seems somehow familiar, or has a nice half-face, or has nice hair, or has a nice ass.

“What is it to you?” He bites out. “Who the fuck are you, anyway?”

“Aren’t you supposed to introduce yourself first?” The annoyance says, eyes creasing again.

“I asked first,” Obito says. He crosses his arms tighter, and huffs. “You can answer or be on your way.”

“Maa, maa, no need to be so short with me,” the man says. “I’m Hatake Kakashi.”

Obito’s eyes widen, and he gapes at the attractive asshole. Hatake Kakashi? The  _ prince _ of the kingdom?

“You must be kidding me,” Obito says, and then, “I don’t believe you.”

Kakashi arches a brow, and wordlessly shows him the pommel of his sword. His white sword, with lightning runes etched in it, and the royal symbol on the pommel.

“What the fuck,” Obito whispers, and then turns his stare on Kakashi’s face again. “What are you doing  _ here? _ Don’t you have duties in the Moon court? Or, I don’t know, people to help, princesses to rescue?”

“I still don’t know your name,” Kakashi says, neatly not answering.

“Obito,” Obito replies, grudgingly. “Uchiha Obito.”

It’s Kakashi’s turn to blink, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.

“An Uchiha?” He says, and Obito immediately knows what he’s wondering:

What is a single Uchiha doing in the middle of a creepy mountain forest, alone, so far from the Fire county his clan lives in? The Uchiha may answer more to the Sun court than the Moon court, but still. They’re neighbors, practically.

“You’re far from home,” Kakashi says, following the same train of thoughts clearly, “Do you need a guide back?”

Obito has absolutely no intention of ever going back to his clan, no sir. He’d rather kiss Zetsu full on the mouth, and that would be utterly awful and disgusting.

“No, thanks, I’m good,” he says. He arches a pointed eyebrow. “ _ You _ ’re far from home too. Are you sure you’re not the one who needs a guide?”

“I am exactly where I want to be,” Kakashi replies, echoing Obito’s earlier words with an infuriating eye-smile. “But if you’re offering your help, I humbly accept!”

Oh, for fuck’s–

“Go get lost,” Obito grits out.

“Maa, maa, Obito, that’s so mean,” Kakashi says, and, honest to the sage,  _ droops _ like a sad puppy. Obito can almost  _ smell _ the bullshit on him, and yet somehow the puppy eyes still almost get him. “I could use some help.”

_ Kamui _ , Obito thinks irritably,  _ now would be a good time to either let me get out, or make me sink fully _ .

For once, Kamui doesn’t even grumble in his mind, and relinquishes their powers to Obito again. A flicker of intent, easy as breathing, and Obito steps out of the ground, arms still crossed. Kakashi blinks at him, then stands up to be at eye-level again. There’s something in his eyes, curious and considering, that makes Obito uncomfortable.

“I’ve never seen this type of earth magic,” Kakashi says.

“It’s not earth magic,” Obito grunts, and dusts himself off a little. Kamui’s abilities are good, but he was still buried for a moment there.

Kakashi doesn’t answer, watching him. Obito wants to either glare at him, or run away. Instead, he crosses his arms again.

“What sort of help?” Obito asks, before he can chicken out and decide to sink in the floor and never see the prince ever again.

“Maa, I’m on a quest of sorts,” Kakashi admits. “The villagers from down south have been reporting sightings on a monster, around these parts. As have wanderers, and a few more villages from north-west from here. I’ve narrowed down my search to this place.”

Ice sinks deeps in Obito’s veins, chilling him to the bone. A monster around here. What are the odds…

In his mind, both Kamui and Datara remain silent.

“I live here,” Obito finally says. “I haven’t seen anything unusual.” He huffs, looking away. “The people around here are all superstitious bastards. It’s the giant bones. It scares people.”

_ I scare people as well _ , he doesn’t say, because, well. That’s not something that would help right now.

Kakashi blinks.

“Giant bones?” He echoes.

“Well, yes,” Obito says, blinking back. “There’s a reason the place is called Mountain’s Graveyard, you know.”

“I’ve never been here,” Kakashi says, shrugging a little. “I didn’t know, and the villagers didn’t mention it.”

“Did they at least mention that they think the place has been haunted for years?” Obito asks, arching a brow.

“No,” Kakashi says, and his tone makes the word come out very flat.

Obito can’t help but grin, a little twisted, at him.

“It seems you’re chasing ghosts,” he mocks.

“Maybe,” Kakashi says. But then his expression flashes, something too fast for Obito to catch, before his awful eye-smile is back. “You’ll help me find that ghost, then?”

Obito snorts.

“There’s no ghost around here,” he says.  _ Except for me _ , he doesn’t say. Shrugs, and adds, “I can take you to the bones, though, if you really want. See for yourself.”

Kakashi smiles, and nods.

“Sounds like an adventure,” he agrees. “I’ll be in your care, then, Obito-kun!”

Obito twitches, and resolves to ditch Kakashi at the bottom of the nearest giant rib.

 

“Hello, Obito,” Kakashi greets idly.

Obito yelps, startling, and instinctively phases right out of reality. His legs go right through the branch he was jumping to, and only fast reflexes have him grabbing onto it with his arms, regaining his solidity.

Hugging the branch like a koala, Obito glares down at the obnoxious prince who is waving at him from the ground below.

“What the hell, Bakashi,” he growls, “I could have hurt myself!”

“I’m very sorry,” Kakashi says, not sounding apologetic in the least, “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Liar!” Obito calls back, and glares. “Didn’t I get rid of you yesterday? How did you even find me again?”

“Right, that was really mean,” Kakashi says, and brings out the puppy eyes again. Obito quickly looks away. “You didn’t even say goodbye, just left me near the bones, all alone and lonely on my lonesome.”

That, Obito did. Two days of travel to the first rib in the forest, with Kakashi as a companion, had been a test of Obito’s patience. Sure, Kakashi could be… nice, at times. And pretty to look at. And had a nice body.

But after those two days, it was either leaving him at the rib, or murdering him. Given that the second option would have ended up with consequences, Obito had chosen the first. Maybe he should at least have punched him in the face.

_ Should have kicked him, too _ , Kamui mutters.

Obito is inclined to agree, and even Datara is pouring in agreement. Her input is vast and overwhelming, and if Obito wasn’t already used to her enthusiasm, he’d probably would have fallen off the branch again..

He chides her softly, barely a nudge to remind her that he can hear her even if she does her equivalent of a whisper.

“Well, clearly you didn’t need help, since you found me easily,” Obito grumbles.

“I’m a good tracker,” Kakashi says cheerfully, puppy eyes gone, as if that wasn’t the creepiest thing anyone has ever said to Obito.

Well. One of the creepiest things. Zetsu and Gramps Madara have said their fair share of weird shit. Datara too, but Datara gets a pass by virtue of not understanding everything the way everyone else does.

“You’re a stalker,” Obito realizes.

“Maa, you wound me,” Kakashi says, and then, “I’m a  _ hunter _ .”

Right. Kakashi is the son of Hatake Sakumo, the king and also one of the best hunters the realm has ever known. They say that the reason he’s king is because he tracked down the moon herself and seduced her, and in return she gifted him with a kingdom.

Obito would think the story fake, if he hadn’t seen weirder. King Sakumo and Queen Kaguya have been on the throne for a long time, now, and really, Kaguya being the moon wouldn’t be the oddest thing in the Moon court.

Besides, Kakashi’s hair  _ really _ does look like spun moonlight.

“Same difference,” Obito says, partly distracting himself from noticing the pretty hair again, and partly to annoy the prince. “Shouldn’t you hunt your ghost, then, and not me?”

“I should,” Kakashi agrees, “But see, I’ve been thinking. You told me there are no ghosts around.”

“Yes,” Obito nods.

“Hm, and,” Kakashi goes on, “you can become intangible, right?”

“Right,” Obito says, because Kakashi just saw him go through a branch, so denying it would just be stupid.

“Doesn’t that make  _ you _ the only ghost around?” Kakashi asks, too innocently for Obito to be fooled.

_ Well, shit, _ he thinks. And then,  _ oh well. _

_ Busted, _ Kamui says gleefully, among flashes of memories and feelings of fun.

Obito sends warmth and mischief their way, much to Kamui’s amusement. Datara is purring in contentment in her corner, amused too, even though they haven’t gotten into such situations since she came here.

Obito looks down at Kakashi, and drops to the ground in a crouch. Rising again, he shrugs but can’t quite hide a small smirk.

“I may or may not have used my ability to scare a few people away,” Obito admits, unrepentant. “It’s not my fault people jump to conclusions.”

“Hm, and does that mean those stories about a monster are in fact also about  _ you _ ?” Kakashi asks, looking unimpressed.

This time, Obito doesn’t smile at all – doesn’t feel like smiling either. Both Datara and Kamui have gone silent and still in his mind, and that would be worrying if Obito wasn’t feeling the exact same way. He pins Kakashi with a hard look.

“I don’t know, prince Kakashi,” Obito says coldly. “Do I look like a monster to you?”

Kakashi seems surprised, as if he hadn’t realized his comment could be constructed that way. Obito wants to scoff at him. As  _ if _ he doesn’t realize he looks odd. Between the scars on his face, and the mismatched eyes – one red with a pinwheel in it, the other lilac with rings and no end – he’s not  _ normal _ , let alone appealing to the eye.

Obito has heard many different opinions on his looks, and can’t say the word monster wasn’t used without lying.

“No,” Kakashi says, finally, and Obito should feel glad that he’s being serious at last, but he can’t. “No, I think you look very handsome.”

“Right,” Obito scoffs, derisive. “I’m sure you do.” He turns away, fed up with this, his heart beating too fast in his throat. “I told you I’d take you to the bones, and I did. Now, leave me alone.”

“No, Obito, wait!” Kakashi calls him back, but it’s already too late.

With a high jump and a hint of Kamui’s touch, Obito disappears into the forest, deep enough that Kakashi won’t find him again.

 

Of course, Kakashi finds him again.

Obito sighs, and gives the man that spent the last day sitting on the rock  _ right _ outside of Obito’s cave a flat look. Kakashi turns miserable eyes to him, somehow managing to look like a kicked puppy left in the rain by his owners, despite the sun shining overhead.

“Cease the drama,” Obito snaps at him.

He ignores Kamui and Datara’s whispers of hypocrisy.  _ They’re _ the hypocrites; they are both big drama queens. They just infected Obito by proxy.

Maybe Gramps Madara can be blamed as well, but Obito won’t speak ill of the dead.

If the old bastard truly is dead. With Gramps Madara, one never knows.

“Will you listen to me?” Kakashi asks him.

“If you cut that moping on  _ my _ rock, then yes,” Obito says, because, really, anything to make the annoying man go away.

Kakashi nods, and straightens. He looks Obito straight in the eye, serious.

“I wanted to apologize,” he says immediately. “I didn’t mean what I said in the way you took it. You don’t look like a monster.” Much to Obito’s disbelief, a hint of red creeps up on what little skin is visible of Kakashi’s face, as he adds. “And I meant what I said when I said I find you very handsome.”

“Oh,” Obito says, a bit dumbly. At the back of his mind, Datara is making sounds of curiosity, while Kamui is bristling. His face feels a bit warm, now. “Right. Thanks.”

“I know that, um,” Kakashi says, and then pauses, looking oddly hesitant. “I mean. I know what it’s like, to have unusual looks, so I really wouldn’t have made fun of that.”

Obito blinks, and his eyes go to the mask hiding Kakashi’s face instinctively. He was curious, distantly, of what was hidden behind it, but hadn’t wanted to pry. It would have invited questions about himself that he has no intention to answer.

Now, though, the curiosity is back tenfold, with both Kamui’s distant interest, and Datara’s nosy flood of inquisitive emotions to back it up.

Obito twitches, and valiantly resists the urge to ask. Instead, he forces himself to look back at Kakashi’s eyes.

“Then what did you mean, if you weren’t talking about how I look?” He asks.

“Well, you said you lived here for a while,” Kakashi says. “Yet you never mentioned the things that the villagers reported.” His expression has gone serious again, as he says, “A giant moving tree-statue, a red moon in the sky – even if you were busy or distracted, I doubt you would have missed it. So either several different sources that had no way of communicating somehow gave my father and mother the same lie, or  _ you _ are the one lying when you say there was no monster around here.”

_ Well _ , Obito thinks, feeling a bit cold,  _ there go my fuzzy feelings. _

“That was weeks ago,” he retorts. “Nothing came back, and I think it would be hard to miss. I didn’t think it relevant.”

Kakashi arches a brow, letting him see how impressed he is with that lie. That is, not at all.

“You know what  _ I _ think?” Kakashi says mildly. “I think you know exactly what the villagers saw, and you know exactly where it went. The only thing I don’t get is why you would help a giant,  _ human eating monster _ to hide.”

Obito twitches.

He doubts that saying that Datara didn’t mean it would help any. Doubts that saying that an old friend of his – namely Zetsu – is at fault for Datara even coming here would help either. What their relation is, Obito isn’t sure, but they  _ are _ related.

Obito owes Zetsu too much to hurt his family.

And besides, he likes Datara.

Of course, none of that matters in the end. Kakashi won’t see Datara as anything but a monster – and in a way he isn’t wrong, as she is very much monstrous and inhuman.  _ No one _ will ever see Datara as anything but a monster.

“She’s not hiding,” Obito finally says, because he needs to say something, to find a way to make Kakashi go away without making him come back with guards and court magicians – or worse, with the  _ queen _ – to kill him and Datara. “She’s contained, and she’s not going to hurt anyone else ever again.”

Kakashi’s eyes narrow.

“ _ She _ is, is she?” He asks, deceptively light. “Did  _ you _ contain her? Seal her away?”

“Yes,” Obito replies.

“Obito,” Kakashi says, and it’s grave, “I don’t know what this… creature told you. But from all the reports, we guessed it was a Juubi – a god tree spirit with ten tails. It’s far more powerful than you could imagine, and no human means, not even the best seal master could contain such a creature so easily. I don’t know where you sealed it, but you need to tell me, so I can do something before it escapes.”

“No,” Obito says, and doesn’t bring a hand to his head even though he wants to. Datara is slowly becoming more agitated, with every word, and all the soothing feelings he can send her way barely suffice. He steels his voice, steels his spine, and repeats, “No. I know she won’t escape, or harm anyone ever again. I won’t let her, even if she wanted to. And I won’t let anyone harm her either.”

“Obito,” Kakashi says again, and there’s something a bit more desperate in his tone now, “Obito, please. I told you, no one can contain such a creature. Every court magician, even my  _ mother _ agreed that they couldn’t-”

“Maybe  _ they _ can’t,” Obito sneers, and bares his teeth at Kakashi. “But I’m not them, am I.”

He’s no petty court magician. He’s not the usual Uchiha fire mage – although he can breathe fire with the best of them. He’s not even a nature mage, even if technically he sort of is.

Obito has been living in the Mountain’s Graveyard since he was a kid, and  _ normal _ doesn’t apply to him. He’s not fully human anymore, to be perfectly honest. Hasn’t been since a cave dropped on him and Gramps Madara rescued him and had the bright idea to try to heal him with some of Zetsu’s cells.

He found Kamui when he was fourteen, and offered them a home in his bones.

It never even crossed his mind that Datara would be much different, when he offered her the same – and indeed, she might have been much larger, much more powerful, but she still made herself a nest in a corner of his body and hasn’t been anything but good company so far.

Maybe that’s not normal, maybe that’s not usual. Maybe even Gramps Madara would have told him off for hosting another creature within him when he already has Kamui, and Gramps Madara was  _ crazy _ .

But Obito doesn’t care. Never has cared for what anybody said, really.

He’s fine, and so are Kamui and Datara, and anyone saying otherwise knows nothing or is lying.

All those academics, all those powerful and knowledgeable people – they never stop and consider that most creatures they deem dangerous can be just as lonely as anyone, can seek a friend just as badly, and sometimes don’t even understand that what they are doing is hurtful.

“I’m not going to let  _ anyone _ , certainly not petty court mages, dictate my actions,” Obito tells Kakashi, taking a few steps towards him until he had a finger pointed accusingly at the prince’s chest, and can see those eyes widen from up close. He snarls, “They know nothing!  _ You  _ know nothing! This is  _ my _ home, and if I decide to keep  _ monsters _ in it, then it’s  _ my _ choice and  _ my _ responsibility! And there is no king or queen in this world that can tell me otherwise!”

“So you would take responsibility for every life that the Juubi claimed?” Kakashi asks, surprisingly steady and mild, given that Obito can feel his heart beat fast, and see how his eyes are still a bit too wide.

“Should I?” Obito asks, seriously. “Was containing it not enough? Did the people ask for reparation, as well?”

Kakashi doesn’t reply. Obito snorts before he can help it, and turns away in disgust.

“Everyone  _ knows _ this place is dangerous,” he says, “and yet people come here, and disappear all the time anyway. No one goes to the court for  _ that _ , do they?”

“This is different,” Kakashi tells him.

“Is it?” Obito asks. “Only fools venture someplace where they know people die and disappear. Only  _ morons _ do so when there’s a giant monster above the tree-line, and a red moon in the sky.” He scoffs. “Natural selection, really.”

Kakashi is making a face, as if he’s not sure whether he should agree or not. Or maybe he’s torn between laughing or crying.

“You say this place is your responsibility,” Kakashi eventually says. “Shouldn’t there be no deaths at all?”

Obito stares at him incredulously.

“Are your parents responsible for every stupid ass that gets themselves killed in the kingdom?” He demands. “Tell me, did the villagers warn you that this place was dangerous?”

“Yes,” Kakashi says.

“Exactly!” Obito says. “They all know, and they warn travelers! The name of the place contains the word  _ graveyard! _ I even warn people when they come near and I see them! If people  _ still _ keep going, and somehow die, then it’s their own fault!” He whirls back to Kakashi, and hisses. “If they asked for reparation-”

“They didn’t,” Kakashi cuts him off. Obito pauses, stunned. But he thought- “Just asked for protection. But can I guarantee that, when I don’t know where the monster is, or if it’ll come back?”

“As long as I’m alive,” Obito tells him, “She’ll be contained.”

“That will never be enough,” Kakashi retorts, but this time it’s more tired and annoyed than anything else. “The council will be asking for proof, the lords will be hounding me…”

“Sucks to be you, then,” Obito says, and grimaces as he mutters, “I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with politics.”

“Yes, lucky you,” Kakashi tells him dryly.

For a moment, Obito doesn’t reply, doesn’t say anything, just looks at Kakashi. The panic from before, the desperation, is gone, replaced by huffy annoyance at best. Obito’s own panic and anger, all the pent up feelings and the fear and the rage are gone, snuffed out by this moment of peace.

With the sun slowly setting, Kakashi’s hair looks silver and gold, and Obito is struck by how  _ young _ the prince looks.

He’s younger than Obito, likely, and Obito isn’t quite sure what to do with that.

More than that, though, and more important too, is the fact that Kakashi’s clever. He guessed pretty quickly that Obito was the person behind most of the stories haunting this place. Obito wonders how long it will take him to guess that the monster he’s been looking for is right in front of him.

It only took Kakashi a few questions to get to the heart of the matter, after all, and Obito almost spilled his guts then. Annoying, but also, perhaps, a good thing if he’s reading the prince correctly.

“You believe me,” Obito says, hope an ember in his chest. “Don’t you?”

“When you say you have the Juubi contained?” Kakashi says, and sighs. It’s long-suffering. “Yes. Call me a moron, but I do.”

“I don’t think you’re a moron at all,” Obito tells him, and it’s easier now that he’s calm, now that he’s got Kakashi’s belief, to call up a tiny smile, to have it be genuine. Kakashi stares at him, and Obito looks away, all too aware of how any expression he pulls twists at his scars. “I think you’re very smart.”

“Tell that to the council,” Kakashi sighs.

“Tell them yourself,” Obito says in distaste. “I’m sure you can find a solution, but you couldn’t pay me  _ enough _ to get me to even meet them.”

He has enough memories of the stuffy clan elders, and Gramps Madara certainly had horror stories about the council of the Sun court. Obito will be perfectly happy if he never has to interact with any of them ever.

Kakashi gives him a flat look, and Obito stares flatly right back.

“Come on, you’re the prince of bullshit,” Obito reminds him. “And I  _ know _ you’ve got a brain under all that fluffy hair. Use it. Find excuses that the council will buy. Or, worst comes to, lie to their faces and flex your royal muscles to prevent them from doubting you. Or, you know, threaten to eat them.”

It certainly works pretty well with any idiot that thinks they can challenge him. And ever since he got Datara, it works even  _ better _ .

“You would be a  _ disaster _ at politics,” Kakashi muses, as if realizing that for the first time.

“However did you guess?” Obito drawls, arching a brow right back. “Certainly, you  _ are _ a genius.”

“Ah,” Kakashi hums, and seems to think for a bit, before asking, “You think my hair is fluffy?”

Obito blinks, taken aback by the sudden change in topic, before flushing a little when he remembers what he just said.

“Right!” He says, loudly, turning away from Kakashi before the prince can keep asking uncomfortable questions. “Night is falling! You can stay in my home for the night, if you behave!”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Kakashi says wryly, and Obito can almost  _ feel _ his dubious look pointed at his cave. “Looks very homely.”

“Oh, shut up,” Obito mutters.

He tries to ignore the way he still wants to smile a little.

It’s been a while since he had a guest over.

 

Kakashi doesn’t like goodbyes. Likes them even less right now, with Obito walking besides him in morose silence towards the end of the forest.

Both of them are acutely aware that this is the end. Kakashi needs to go home, report back to his parents, and tell a story to the council that will satisfy them. He needs to leave, even though he doesn’t want to.

Strange, really, how quickly he got attached to this strange mage he found in the forest. Or maybe not so strange. Obito is new, a taste of adventure and rebellion, something wild and untamed, a storm in human skin. Nothing like the boring political waters that Kakashi has grown up navigating.

Maybe some would argue that court life is much more dangerous, simply on another scale but–

They haven’t met Obito. Haven’t seen his mismatched eyes glow with fury, haven’t feel power so deep it felt bottomless rise up with his rage, haven’t felt what it’s like to flirt with someone who claims he can chain up a god.

And maybe, just for that, Kakashi shouldn’t trust him. Obito hasn’t told him where he put the Juubi, hasn’t told him  _ how _ he contained it, hasn’t told him anything about his powers.

It would be foolish to trust him, and yet– _ yet _ Kakashi does.

Because Obito feels so strongly, so earnestly. He watches his words, but in the end he loses his temper easily, and stumbles on his own emotions and misses branches when he’s startled. Obito is a liar for what  _ he _ thinks are the good reasons, and he’s a painfully honest one. A walking, talking contradiction in a distracting body.

Kakashi likes a mystery, and after a week he might not have solved the mystery of who Obito is fully, but he likes what he found nonetheless.

Likes Obito.

Obito, who shows his annoyance at Kakashi plainly, when everyone else hides behind masks and political correctness and it’s so  _ refreshing _ .

Obito, who, apparently, thinks Kakashi has fluffy hair, and certainly was distracted enough  _ staring _ at him that he walked into a tree. Although he doubts Obito knows that Kakashi saw that, and the subsequent sinking into the ground.

Obito, who invited him to share his home. A strange one, built in a cave, but still oddly nice, with too much plants and odd decoration and obscenely plush pillows.

Obito, who he needs to say goodbye to.

Kakashi  _ hates _ goodbyes.

“Right,” Obito suddenly says, and stops walking. His expression is strangely closed off, as he gestures to the tree-line. “This is where I leave you.”

“Don’t you ever wander out of this place?” Kakashi wonders.

“I do, sometimes,” Obito shrugs. “I have ways to travel easily, over long distance. I just haven’t found many places that feel as nice as here.” He quirks a slight smile, crooked and a bit wry. “This might be a menace of a place, but it’s home, you know?”

Kakashi nods, because oddly enough, he  _ does _ . Obito fits right at home here, a strange person in a strange place, a spirit in a haunted bone-forest. Eerie, and yet utterly, hauntingly beautiful.

He wonders how Obito even  _ came _ to live here, but. That’s not a question he can ask now.

“Maybe I’ll come back and visit,” Kakashi tells him, and Obito turns to look at him. There’s a bit of surprise there, but pleased. “You’ll get lonely without me.”

“You wish,” Obito scoffs, but he doesn’t hide a small smile. “As long as you don’t come back with a guard platoon, I suppose you can drop by.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kakashi agrees wryly.

Obito laughs, and Kakashi can’t help but stare at him. Barely a week he’s known him, but he wants to be able to see him all the time, wants to hear him laugh again, wants to  _ make _ him laugh.

He wonders if his parents would mind, if he came home just in time to pack bigger bags, and set off again.

Surely, they wouldn’t – mother  _ did _ elope with his father, after all, forsaking her kingdom among the stars for Sakumo. She would understand. As would father, really, since he’s just as big a romantic.

“You know,” Kakashi suddenly hears Obito say, tone mischievous. “I  _ did _ say your hair looks fluffy.”

Kakashi’s eyes widen, but before he can think to complain or avoid it, Obito is into his space, hands reaching for his hair. Kakashi stills, and forgets to breathe as the man sinks his fingers in his hair with a delighted expression.

“It’s so  _ soft! _ ” Obito marvels immediately, apparently unaware that Kakashi’s heart is on the verge of exploding. “Fluffier than I imagined! How does it even  _ do _ that?”

As he continues to pat his hair, fingers tangling in it, Kakashi closes his eyes almost despite himself. The touch isn’t unpleasant. In fact, between the warm fingers combing through his hair, and the pleased noises Obito is making, Kakashi thinks this is pretty good.

Of course, that’s the moment Obito’s fingers choose to venture too close to his forehead.

Kakashi can’t help the tiny noise that escapes him when Obito pauses, two fingers hooked around the protrusions there. He opens his eyes, feeling a bit mortified, but Obito isn’t watching his face. Eyes wide, the Uchiha gently brushes his hair out of his face, revealing what Kakashi has spent years hiding – apart from his face.

“Holy shit,” Obito murmurs, and he sounds breathless. His pupils have blown wide, Kakashi realizes, stunned, even as he says almost reverently, “You have  _ horns _ .”

“Mother’s side of the family,” Kakashi mutters, embarrassed and a bit hesitant. Maybe Obito will pull away now, realizing that Kakashi isn’t quite as human as he seems–

“They  _ are lovely, _ ” Obito says, and his voice shifts oddly halfway through into something between trill and purr. His eyes suddenly snap to Kakashi’s and says, “You _ are lovely, Kakashi _ .”

There’s a ripple, and Kakashi only has a second to realize that Obito’s shape has changed slightly, paler colours in shade of green and scales in the midst of scars, and  _ horns _ of all things, on Obito’s forehead, before Obito is leaning in.

_ Oh, _ Kakashi realizes even as a finger hooks his mask and gently pushes it down,  _ that’s where he put the Juubi _ .

And then, he’s not thinking anymore because Obito is kissing him, both gentle and unrelenting. It feels like static on his skin, sending lightning down his spine and into his veins, and Kakashi moans into the sensation, presses closer.

Closing his arms around Obito feels like the most natural thing in the world, like standing on the edge of a galaxy and letting go, like coming home.

When they finally pause, Kakashi stares, dazed, into Obito’s just as dazed eyes.

“Does that count as kissing two people?” He wonders aloud.

Obito flushes, and groans, and with another ripple his looks go back to normal. He doesn’t let Kakashi go, though, one hand resting gently on his nape, the other still combing through his hair and occasionally brushing against his horns.

“Technically,” Obito says, muffled in Kakashi’s shoulder, “Three.”

“Three,” Kakashi echoes, incredulous. He can’t help but say, “Please tell me you haven’t sealed  _ two _ Juubis in you.”

“Technically,” Obito starts again, “I haven’t sealed anything.” He raises his head to offer Kakashi a somewhat sheepish smile. “And, uh, Datara is the Juubi. Kamui is a lost star eater?”

Kakashi stares at him blankly.

“You,” he says very precisely, “are insane.”

Obito doesn’t even have the grace to deny it. Instead, he gives him a doleful look.

“Does that mean you won’t kiss me goodbye again?” He asks, with a frankly sinful pout. To think he called  _ Kakashi _ a drama queen.

Kakashi huffs, and then decides that answering with words is overrated. Besides, words can’t really convey what he wants to say, what he wants Obito to know.

Not a goodbye, not really. More an oath. All the feelings blooming in his heart, and the hint of hope that is sparking there. A reminder, a way to say,  _ I don’t care if you’re a little odd. _ At most,  _ I’ll see you again very soon _ . 

Maybe, if he feels brave,  _ I think I love you. _

Things that Kakashi can’t say, can’t speak, but... 

Maybe Obito will get the hint if he kisses him again.


End file.
